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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28132794">Arrival</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/PortalPanda/pseuds/PortalPanda'>PortalPanda</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Tron (Movies), Tron - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Gen, Legacy AU</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 14:36:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>794</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28132794</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/PortalPanda/pseuds/PortalPanda</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Flynn and co meet Tron at the portal instead of Clu.</p><p>Written for the ten year Tron: Legacy anniversary.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kevin Flynn &amp; Tron</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Arrival</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“That’s it. It’s over,” Sam says, stunned, and then louder once it actually sinks in; “It’s over!”</p><p>Sam and Quorra whoop and laugh, while Flynn tries to breathe. Clu and Rinzler have both fallen to the sea. The fight is finally over. They’re all going home.</p><p>Flynn looks up just in time to see an orange jet arc over theirs, racing ahead of them towards the portal. Next to him, the color drains from Quorra’s face.</p><p>“Wait--” Sam says, then stops when the jet turns blue. “Is <em> that-- </em>”</p><p>“<em>Tron</em>,” Flynn breathes, smiling wider than he has in years. “Welcome back.”</p><hr/><p>Arriving at the portal fills Flynn with a different kind of dread than he initially expected. They aren’t going to have to fight anyone. Probably. He doesn’t have to worry about himself or Sam or Quorra getting killed. (...Probably.) But he will have to face what was once a dear friend-- another person he has <em> completely </em>failed and disappointed. In some respects, Flynn thinks, this is far worse than being attacked physically.</p><p>Oh, well. He has his suspicions that his first few days in the Analog world will be filled with these kinds of conversations. Might as well get used to it.</p><p>A familiar figure stands on the bridge to the portal. The sight is a bit of a blast from the past (like most things today); standing with his arms crossed like that, with his helmet off and his lights restored to their original blue, Tron looks like he stepped out of a memory. Flynn can’t say how many times he’s stood just like that, in that same pose, in that same spot, while the User hemmed and hawed before returning to his own world. </p><p>It’s good to see Tron looking more like himself again, but Flynn would be kidding himself (<em>lying</em>) if he said Tron looked exactly the same. A scar runs the length of the program’s face, and one of his eyes is completely white. His expression is almost blank. Though Tron has always been vigilant, the program once had a sense of warmth about him. That’s gone now. He’s apprehensive at best as he watches the trio approach.</p><p>“Tron,” Flynn says, and he hopes his voice holds all the things he can’t find the words for; so much regret, and hope, and joy, and pain.</p><p>“Flynn.” Tron sounds as serious as ever, and just as broken as he looks. </p><p>“I’m sorry,” Flynn says, uselessly. “I know that doesn’t fix it, but-- I’m so, <em> so </em> sorry. I thought-- you were dead. I would never have left you like that if I’d <em> known-- </em> ” His hands hover in the space between them, like he wants to reach out but knows he doesn’t have the right. “I’m <em> sorry </em>.”</p><p>Tron nods. His gaze flickers from Flynn to Quorra.</p><p>“So am I.” A broken sound rattles from his throat, and he shakes his head to dispel it. Something about the motion is desperate. “You should go.”</p><p>Flynn whines.</p><p>“You’re asking me to leave you here? <em> Again</em>?” </p><p>“I am <em> not </em>asking.” </p><p>Tron tries not to be hurt by the fear in the User’s eyes at his tone; nor the way his companions huddle closer to him. They <em> should </em> be afraid. If they’re afraid they’ll be <em> safe</em>. </p><p>“My programming is unstable. If you stay here much longer, I will attack you.” As if to prove his point, his light-lines flicker orange. He fights the urge to clutch at his throat when the sound becomes worse. A nano passes before he can speak again. His voice is gentler than the User expects.</p><p>“Go back to your world, Flynn.”</p><p>“<em>Tron-- </em>”</p><p>“Let me save <em> someone</em>. Please.”</p><p>That tone, more pleading than angry, does the trick. Flynn nods, eyes watering. How else could he possibly respond to that?</p><p>“I’ll come back. I swear.” Sam and Quorra freeze behind him. He doesn’t notice. “I’ll fix the portal so no one gets trapped here again, and I’ll bring Alan with me if he doesn’t kill me first. He can help you, more than I ever could. And he’ll be so excited to meet you-- he’s never gonna talk about anything else, ever again.” These are the nicest things Flynn can think to say, and yet they only make Tron look like he’s in more pain. “Just hang on till then, alright? I promise I’ll be back. I won’t leave you behind again.”</p><p>Sam and Quorra herd Flynn away even as he makes his promises, and that, at least, earns a small smile from Tron.</p><p>“Goodbye, Flynn,” he says. And then there is light.</p><p> </p><p>In the many years Flynn spent imagining what it would be like to return to his own world, he never thought he’d be so anxious to get back to the Grid.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Happy anniversary to Tron: Legacy!! I have... way too many feelings about these characters.</p><p>Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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